Sensation & Perception

Ahmed Ali Qureshi

Psychophysics
The study of how the mind interpret the physical properties of stimuli

Sensation
Feeling in one's body (sensation of warmth). Awareness, impression (sensation of being watched)

Perception
Interpretation of sensation Interpretation of sensory information

Visual Perception

Absolute Threshold

Processing Without Awareness

Subliminal Stimulation of Senses Subliminal
When the intensity of a stimulus is below the participants absolute threshold and the participant is not consciously aware of the stimulus


James Vicary attempted to use this for moviegoers To buy more popcorn and soda He flashed messages such as eat Popcorn and Drink Coca Cola between the frames of a movies at a speed so fast that movie goes did not have time to consciously perceive the messages

How we see colors

Primary colors
Red Green Blue

Light that is reflected from the surface of the paint

Perception
Using what we know
Top-down perceptual processing Top Stored knowledge to perceive things you already know It also helps in missing part of the stimulus
Sound of a type of bike, plane, gun, walking T-yota pictures

Bottom Up Processing
Building a perception form scratch Perception that is not guided by prior knowledge or expectations

Understanding what we sense

Perceiving
Size Shape Brightness

Constancy of
Size Shape Brightness

Depth perception
Sensing out 3-D with 2-D eyes 32 Binocular Depth perception
Depth cues that utilize information from both eyes

Monocular Depth Cues

Binocular Depth

Monocular Depth Cues

Perceiving Form: Gestalt Approach

Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koffka were central figures for this approach. According to it
The whole of a perceptio is greater thatn the sum of its parts. Gestalt means whole form

example
When you look at your friends face, you dont get angles, rounds, curves and shapes that make up the face Rather, you perceive the stimulus as whole

Gestalt concepts of Perceptual Organization

FigureFigure-Ground Closure Proximity Similarity Good Continuation

FigureFigure-Ground

Closure

T yota

Proximity

Similarity

Good Continuation
Chemoflauge

How Accurate are Our Perceptions?

Errors due to Top-Down Processing Top Seeing what we expect to See

Errors due to Perceptual Constancy

Tricks of the Brain
The moon illusion
Undoing the Moon Illusion

The Ponzo Illusion The Mueller-Lyer Illusion Mueller-

Errors due to Top Down Processing

Seeing What we Expect to See

Errors due to Perceptual Constancy

The Moon Illusion

The Ponzo Illusion

The Mueller-Lyer Illusion Mueller-

Cultural Factors in Perception